CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The storyline was writing itself before the game kicked off. Nico Iamaleava, whose third start of his career came in an ABC primetime game, was going to introduce himself to the world and launch his Heisman Trophy campaign.
Iamaleava was good, but it was Tennessee football’s defense that dominated the day as the 14th-ranked Vols throttled No. 24 NC State 51-10 in the Duke’s Mayo Classic Saturday night.
“Defensively, just an elite performance from really start to finish,” Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel said postgame.
What wasn’t surprising about Tennessee’s defensive performance was the way it controlled the line of scrimmage. NC State’s offensive line looked shaky against Western Carolina last week and the Vols have one of the best defensive fronts in the country.
They played exactly that way against NC State, holding the Wolfpack to just 39 rushing yards on 28 carries. Tennessee totaled 13 tackles for loss, and perhaps the most impressive part is that 16 different Vols recorded at least half a tackle for loss.
Tyre West, Dominic Bailey and Omarr Norman-Lott all made plays in the backfield, but the entire Volunteer defense lived in the Wolfpacks’ backfield.
“It looked like we were just getting knocked into the backfield a lot,” NC State coach Dave Doeren said. “And I said this all week, their defensive line was our biggest concern, particularly defensive tackles. And we think those guys are really good players and we just did not block them up front the way that we have to, to run the football. … I watched the line of scrimmage all night and it wasn’t going our way. It was going their way.”
While the Vols’ defensive line playing at a high level was little surprise, there were plenty of questions surrounding Tennessee’s secondary entering the season. The Vols are breaking in five new starters in the defensive backfield including true sophomores at both cornerback spots.
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Chattanooga didn’t test Tennessee’s secondary in the season opener. NC State appeared to have the weapons and quarterback play to test the Vols inexperienced back end. Tennessee aced the test.
NC State passed for just 104 yards and only 67 yards in the game’s final three quarters. Rickey Gibson and Jermod McCoy were both solid at corner and the much maligned Will Brooks made the play that changed the game, intercepting a Grayson McCall pass and returning it 85 yards for a touchdown to give the Vols a 17-3 lead in the second quarter.
“It was a part of the straw that broke the back of them,” Heupel said. “It started creating momentum for us.”
“The pick six and then all of a sudden things just started to kind of unravel and we just never got back into it,” Doeren said.
The pick six was one of three NC State turnovers along with a Dominic Bailey strip sack and a McCall fumbled snap. Tennessee combined the three turnovers with two more turnovers on downs and they consistently set up its offense in strong field position.
The final numbers were staggering. NC State totaled just 143 yards of offense and 27 yards in the second half. Only two Wolfpack drives crossed midfield in the entire game. Suffocating, stifling, dominant— Tennessee’s defense was all of it.
Pair a defense that continues to steadily improve under Tim Banks with a Heupel offense poised to rank in the top 10 nationally again and you have a very real playoff contender. But make no bones about it, stout defense is what Heupel expects from his program.
“With the growth and development of our roster, we’re able to play more people. That gives you depth. That helps. And the growth of our players and who we have within the scheme that Coach Banks and our defensive staff have continued to develop these guys. They’ve been playing well and I love the future of what we have over there,” Heupel said before pausing.
“Let me just say one more thing. The standard at Tennessee is to be elite on defense. This is the home of Reggie White, Al Wilson, Eric Berry.”
